Royal Bank of Scotland has defended a move to hand four senior executive share
bonuses worth almost £5m, saying it is necessary to the bank's recovery plan.

The bank is to offer nearly 12m shares to staff under an incentive-based awards scheme, with Ellen Alemany, the head of the bank's American business, potentially receiving 5.9m shares – worth £2.4m on current prices.

An RBS spokesman said the scheme aligned the interests of the executives "directly with those of our shareholders".

The potential reward for executives under the scheme depended on their success in delivering the bank's restructuring plan over the next three-to-five years, the spokesman said.

"Nothing will be paid until and unless performance criteria are achieved and awards are subject to 'claw back'," she said.